The afternoon.
The Basketball Club guys had gathered in the gym, still in their school gym clothes.
"Y'all got a match?" (Madelyn)
"Yeah." (Leonz)
"Lucky!" (Madelyn)
Somewhere at the other side of the gym, someone called out.
"Kalakos! Get back here!" (Girl)
Madelyn walked off.
Leonz continued standing around, shoe bag in hand. He was excited for the game. He had not played a proper 5 on 5 since his devastating loss in middle school.
"Lovehart!" (Coach Dom)
Leonz approached the Coach.
"Where's Monegotomy?" (Coach Dom)
"What? Wasn't he just here?" (Leonz)
Leonz looked around, wondering where Asher was.
"We'll obviously he ain't here, is he?" (Coach Dom)
"What the hell?" (Leonz)
"Do you got his phone number? Anyone got his phone number?" (Coach Dom)
"No…" (Leonz)
"Dammit. I'm going to head to the General Office, all of you wait here. When the bus arrives, I want Joseph to delay the driver until I return." (Coach Dom)
"What happened?" (Joseph)
"Monegotomy." (Coach Dom)
Joseph looked around, as if just coming to the realisation.
"I see… that is indeed a problem." (Joseph)
Coach Dom ran off, leaving them in the gym.
"Aren't you friends with Monegotomy?" (Joseph)
"Kinda? But we never exchanged contacts." (Leonz)
"Shit. If we lose one of our starters, it's going to be a huge disadvantage for us." (Joseph)
"Surely he's just running late." (Leonz)
"We've been here for half an hour, no way he's just running late. Besides, have you seen seen how early that guy arrives normally?" (Joseph)
Leonz started to panic, but he calmed himself down.
The sound of the bus came, and Joseph instructed all the guys to get on it before the coach.
On the bus, Joseph started talking to the bus driver.
"Aight, our Coach ain't here yet, could ya wait a minute or two for him? He's this irresponsible adult that none of us respects, but we need to keep up appearances." (Joseph)
The bus driver did not look happy, but did not start the bus.
The boys started chatting with each other.
Eventually, Coach Dom appeared in the bus again, looking pissed.
"Alright, make sure you start the bus before he sits down." (Joseph)
"Shut up." (Coach Dom)
Coach Dom sat down, the bus starting.
"What happened to him?" (Joseph)
"He went home." (Coach Dom)
"Why?" (Joseph)
"How the Hell would I know? I got his phone number and the only thing he said was that he went home before hanging up." (Coach Dom)
Coach Dom sighed and stood up, facing the rest of the team, which was one man short.
"Monegotomy ain't here today because he went home for who knows what reason. The lineup will change, Lovehart starts at the 2, Hatchet's starting at the 3. We'll see how it goes from there." (Coach Dom)
Leonz was concerned, but also slightly frustrated at Asher's actions. There seemed to be no reason for his actions other than the fact that Asher did not want to play for the team.
The mood in the bus was slightly worse, but everyone still seemed fine.
Leonz was mostly left out as the only Freshmen. The team was mostly unaffected because Asher barely had much of a presence anyway.
"Keep calm, we can still win against the Jesters without Monegotomy." (Coach Dom)
"It ain't about that, coach." (Leonz)
"Then what's it about?" (Coach Dom)
"Um… which formation will we be running if I start?" (Leonz)
"3-2." (Coach Dom)
"Got it." (Leonz)
Arrival at Homer High school.
"Aaaannnddd we're here!" (Joseph)
Joseph was the first to step out of the bus, even before the coach.
"Get out of the way." (Coach Dom)
Coach Dom pushed Joseph from standing in front of the exit of the bus. Joseph stepped away, laughing.
The team stepped out and walked inside the school.
For the most part, Homer High school looked better than Zodiac Academy, and that was saying a lot.
"Their Basketball team suck ass, but they got other sports like Football* and Baseball which they're pretty good at. Too bad they ain't got no ballers here." (Coach Dom)
* American Football
"And they got a good swim team, as well as chess club." (Joseph)
"Why the hell do you know that?" (Coach Dom)
"I actually wanted to apply there, but my middle school score was much too low." (Joseph)
They walked in and were accompanied by someone. The person accompanying them was had black hair and eyes and had a friendly smile on his face.
"Are y'all the Zodiac Beasts?" (?)
"Yes, and you?" (Coach Dom)
"Nice to meet'cha all. Name's Harley Snyder, the team captain of the Homer Jesters. I was told to lead y'all to the basketball gym, but honestly, I'm still rather new to this whole place." (Harley)
"You're a Freshmen?" (Coach Dom)
"Yes, I am. Coach made me captain, but honestly, I've got no idea why." (Harley)
Joseph leaned closer to whisper to Leonz.
"He's probably No. 66." (Joseph)
"No, no. I'm not ranked 66, that's Ainz." (Harley)
That's some sharp hearing.
The guy turned around and started walking, talking to Coach Dom who followed him.
"We're really grateful that y'all accepted our request. We were really eager for some action, even if we're going to lose." (Harley)
"Right…" (Coach Dom)
"The gym should be… left, left, left, left, left* then a right. Got it." (Harley)
* He's physically turning in those directions, yes he turned left five times
"That's called forward." (Joseph)
"Oh shoot." (Harley)
Harley checked the signs once more before heading towards a layout of the whole school, looking at the map.
"Sorry, I'm bad with directions. Normally Ainz or Thomas would accompany me, but they're prepping for the game." (Harley)
Harley eventually started scratching his head. Coach Dom sighed and looked at the map for him instead.
"It's that way." (Coach Dom)
"Really?" (Harley)
Coach Dom started walking in that direction, now in the lead. Harley walked along with the Coach, the rest of the boys behind them.
From what Leonz could tell, Harley was the same height as him, around 6'2.
When they got to the gym, Harley walked in with a wide smile.
"Coach! They helped me find my way here!" (Harley)
"You're supposed to help them get here, not the other way around!" (?)
Their Coach walked up to them and sighed. He stepped up to Coach Dom and extended a hand.
"Nice to meet you, I'm the Coach for the Homer Jesters, feel free to call me Steve." (Steve)
Dom shook his hand and looked at the guy before asking.
"You have not played professional Basketball before, I'm guessing." (Dom)
Steve let out an awkward laugh, scratching the back of his head.
"Well, you're right." (Steve)
Steve was a portly person, and did not look like he played any form of sports.
Harley was in the background, laughing and chatting with his teammates.
"The changing rooms are that way, and when you're done changing, y'all can place your bags here." (Steve)
He gestured to a row of benches. On the other side of the court, there were already other benches, likely the bags of the Jesters.
"Great." (Dom)
Everyone went off to change as quickly as they could into their jerseys. Leonz put his on, feeling a slight coolness in his legs which he tried to dispel with slight hopping.
Leonz was the first out.
He went over to the benches and took a seat to tie his shoes.
"Yoooo, are those kyries?" (Harley)
Harley had walked up to him from the side, looking at his shoes.
"Yeah." (Leonz)
"I like kyries, but honestly, I prefer wearing the Zoom Freak 2s, no idea why though, just like it." (Harley)
Leonz did not respond, not really sure how to speak to Harley.
"I'm guessing you're the same as me? 6 foot 2?" (Harley)
"Yeah." (Leonz)
"Guess I'll be guarding you then, considering our heights." (Harley)
"Snyder! Get over here!" (Steve)
"Aight bye." (Harley)
Leonz finished tying his shoelace, someone feeling much calmer.
He stood up and started doing some stretches to warm up. The other boys who finished chanting and putting on their shows also started warmups.
Eventually, they were gathered one last time. The clock on each end of the court turned on, starting at 12:00 with 24 below it, along with 000 on either side.
Home: 000
Away: 000
"Right, let's start things off smooth, okay? I'm trusting Joseph to make the plays, so y'all better not screw this over. If y'all lose, I'm making you run extra laps." (Dom)
There were several grains from the guys.
"Now get out there and show them that the Beasts ain't one to be messed with!" (Dom)
There was an audience gathered, though not too big.
On the other side, the Jesters were gathered.
"So um… y'all do your best, okay? Whether we win or lose, it's all about having the experience of being able to play in a game." (Steve)
"Coach, you're too reserved." (Thomas)
"Yeah, there isn't something like 'whether we win or lose'." (Harley)
Harley glanced over at the Beasts.
"We just have to dominate every game. Won't that be nice?" (Harley)
'BEEEEP' (whistle)
The players on both teams walked to the middle of the court to high-five each other. Eventually, only five players remained on the court, the two Centers standing inside the circle in the middle of the court.
The middle of the court had the face of a cartoon jester.
Ball game start.
Zodiac Beasts:
PG- #1 6'4 Joseph Quinn
SG- #22 6'2 Leonz Lovehart
SF- #15 6'4 Theodore Hatchet
PF- #6 6'8 Toby Garland Jr
C- #33 6'11 Crox Devonte
Homer Jesters:
PG- #17 6'2 Harley Snyder
SG- #54 6'5 Ainz Waters
SF- #10 6'6 Leonard Harper
PF- #11 6'7 Samuel Rockefeller
C- #8 6'9 Thomas Crowell